Geographic Metonym

By Deane Barker • • tags: language • 1 min read •
Updates
This content has been updated 1 time since it was first published. The last update happened .

Definition: when something is referred to by a simpler thing that is associated with it

For example, if often takes the form of a place name being used to refer to (1) a significant event that happened at that place; or (2) an organization, institution, industry, or concept associated with that place.

Examples:

Metonym is a general concept of association which takes many different forms. And I couldn’t find that there was any formal acknowledgment of geographic metonymy, so I just made up the title here.

See also: Synecdoche.

Why I Looked It Up

I was researching the gold standard, and I kept seeing references to “Breton Woods,” which means the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference which took place there in 1944 and led to huge changes in the world’s financial system.

Also, this is very common when referring to famous battles. In reading about World War 1, you can’t miss references to Verdun, the Somme, and Gallipoli. These are all places, but they’re used to refer to the events that took place there.

I knew this was a concept, but I didn’t know what it was named. And I was specifically looking for place names as used for events. However, “geographic metonymy” (again, I made that up), also uses place names to refer to concepts and organizations.

Update

Added on

I saw an infographic on how to write marketing copy that seemed to use metonyms:

Don’t: Stop wiping with unrecyclable toilet paper
Do: Stop wiping with trees!

Don’t: 1,000 songs in your media player
Do: 1,000 songs in your pocket!

Links to this – Great White Way March 6, 2022
Clearly, Broadway in New York City is an example of this. However, I suppose it could apply to any “entertainment district” of a city – even a couple blocks Phillips Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls. Wiktionary just has this for etymology: So called from its brilliant illumination at night.
Links to this – Breton Cap November 2, 2024
This is a old-style cap with a flat top, a band around the bottom, and a visor. They might also be called a “fisherman’s cap,” a “mariner’s cap,” and they might remind some people of a train conductor’s cap. I even saw a reference to a “John Lennon cap,” since he famously wore one. Vladimir Lenin...
Links to this – Brittany November 2, 2024
This is the extreme western region of France. It’s mostly a peninsula that extends into the Atlantic. The largest city in the region is Rennes, with about 750,000 in its metro area. (Interestingly, the two other large cities are named Vannes and Nantes, which points to some common etymology.)...
Links to this – Sapphism August 28, 2022
This is a allusion/euphemistic for “lesbianism.” Though, weirdly, the reference is circular. Sappho was a female Greek poet in the 6th century BC. She was born and lived at least part of her life on the Greek island of Lesbos. She may or may not have been homosexual, though most scholars believe...
Links from this – Synecdoche April 11, 2023
This is a type of metonym. Specifically it’s when a smaller part of something is used to refer to the whole thing. When we say we need “boots on the ground,” we’re talking about entire humans, not just boots. The boots are just used as a shorthand for the larger concept. It’s pronounced...